Don't Leave Me
by sam spade-fitzgerald
Summary: Lola loses her temper. Alternate ending to I'm Your Boogie Man.  sorry bad summary
1. Shot

Disclaimer: I don't own anything relating to Rizzoli & Isles except my own head.

A/N: So was anyone else upset that they ended it that way? It's not like it's a fall show so it's only a few months break … this isn't coming back til probably May/June 2011! This is an alternate ending to the episode "I'm Your Boogie Man."

"Shut up!" Lola yelled as she returned to the room and fired once into the stomach of Jane Rizzoli. Jane let out something between a yell and a grunt as she fell back against the bed; her body jerking then going limp as she slumped against the bed. Frankie let out a strangled yell of shock and surprise as he watched blood explode from his sister's stomach, almost in slow motion. His eyes widened as he turned his head back to Lola. She looked almost shocked that she had pulled the trigger, but the shock was turning to glee of her success and a smirk was emerging on her face and something snapped in Frankie. It didn't matter that his hands were tied or that she had a gun; he let out an animalistic scream and tackled her like a lion pouncing on his prey, throwing the two of them into the hallway.

"That's my sister!" He brought his tied hands down on her face, hearing her nose pop loudly. They rolled into the hallways, bashing into the wall, creating a head sized hole where Lola's head hit the wall. He had his hands wrapped around the gun, around her own hands, preventing her from squeezing the trigger again. They were both trying to gain control of the weapon that might of just claimed the life of his big sister. Finally, he managed to twist the gun to her chest and fired it four times in succession into her chest. She gasped, before going limp, collapsing on top of Frankie. He shoved her off disgustedly, and lay panting on the floor. He realized all the movement of his wrists had loosened the rope and he managed to worm his hands free. He stared at her body for a few seconds in shock before he bolted for Jane.

Jane was letting out small gasping breaths, one shaking hand feebly attempting to control the spurting blood, while the other hand clutched at the edge of the bedspread, her grip making her knuckles go white. Blood was dripping steadily out of her mouth and her eyes were half rolled back, wheeling, trying to find something to focus on. Frankie's knees went weak as he tried to remember what he was supposed to do.

"Oh God, Jane." Frankie grabbed the phone off the bedside table before he skidded to a halt next to his sister. She wheezed, every movement of her body hurting her as she managed to focus her eyes on Frankie. He reached for her hand as he pressed 9-1-1 on the phone. "My sister, she's a detective, she's shot. Please hurry. Oh God." He threw the phone on the floor, not bothering to hit end, knowing they could use the GPS to track where they were. He blinked back the tears, his eyes blurred, he couldn't loose his sister, not today, please. He let her hand fall back to the ground as he put pressure on her stomach, eliciting a moan of agony from his sister. "Sorry, sorry, oh God."

"F-Frankie." She choked, a fresh coat blood spilling over her lips as she tried to focus on him. "It's, it's ok." She managed to stutter out, her eyes starting to droop before fluttering shut. Frankie couldn't stop the tears now, even when she was hurt, she was still trying to be the big sister, trying to keep him calm.

"No, Jane, Jane, please. Open your eyes." He almost screamed at her. Blood was seeping through his hands and she wasn't responding. "Please don't do this to me, please, Jay Jay." He hadn't called her that since they were just kids. She let out a pained moan, but her eyes remained shut. "I can't do this without you. I wanted to be a cop because you said it first. I need you, you're my role model. I love you so much. You're my big sister." His voice cracked and he couldn't continue. He gasped in shock as he heard the front door come crashing down in the front room.

"JANE!" He heard Korsak scream frantically, as he came running for the bedroom. "Oh my God." He staggered backwards as he saw the blood. "Jane." He advanced almost as though he wasn't sure of his footing towards Jane. It was almost though a puddle was forming on the ground as he folded himself next to her head. He cupped her face and stroked it. "Jane?" She managed to crack her eyes, the strain obvious, but all Korsak could see the pain laced through those eyes before they blinked shut again.

"Janie, please, please, don't leave me all alone." Frankie was sobbing, he blinked frantically, trying to clear his eyes. He wanted to just collapse on the ground and throw a fit, demand that she was going to be okay, and then she would, but he was past that. He knew better.

"Sir, please step back." Frankie jumped, he hadn't realized that the EMTs had arrived as well. He shook his head. The paramedic recognized that he was in shock, and possibly injuried himself. "Are you hurt?" He asked gently as his partner started to check Jane's vitals. "You're doing a good job there bud, keeping pressure, keep doing that and I'm gonna check you over, okay?" Frankie managed to move his head up and down once.

"Jane's hurt." Suddenly he couldn't keep himself in the shape of a human anymore, and he slumped backwards. The paramedic was waiting to catch him and carefully held him up. Frost took his spot instantly, the crimson stain of blood spreading up the sleeves of his pristine white shirt. "Janie?" He was five years old again and his big sister was helping pick him after he fell off his bike.

"_It's okay Frankie. You'll get it." Janie clumsily patted his head as she tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "You're okay." She brushed the dirt from his knees as he sniffed. He didn't want his sister to think he was a cry baby and if she said it was fine, it was okay. _

"_Is it bleeding?" He tried to look, but Janie wouldn't let him. "Is it bad?" His lower lip trembled as he looked for his discarded bike. The front wheel looked wrong, maybe dad would fix it later. He hadn' meant to fall, he hoped no one was mad at him. He sniffled again. _

"_No, but let's go inside. Mom'll want to bandage it." Janie slung him onto her back and trudged back towards the house. Frankie relished in this sisterly comfort and let the side of his head rest against the back of her head. _

"Damn it!" The yell of frustration threw Frankie back out of the daydream and into a distorted reality. "Again." Frankie gazed in horror at the scene in front of him. Jane's body jerked as the electricity surged through her body. It was like looking through a curved glass, everything was distorted and seemed to be moving so slowly. He couldn't hear anything, like someone had plugged his ears. That was his big sister, his protector, and this just had to be a bad dream.

Suddenly, like being pulled out of a suction cup, time sped back up and sounds returned, but the sound that overrode it all was the long, flat monotone of his sister's heart.

A/N: STILL not as evil as the season finale!


	2. Falling

This past Wednesday, a girl in Concord, North Carolina left a bar with a guy she met. The Friday following, her body was found in a storage shed. Her father has appeared all over television, making many appeals to catch the man, a known sex offender. While these paid off, his life is forever changed. Her father's job is to catch people, to keep people safe, and protect the people he loves. He's the CHIEF OF POLICE. Please, all of you, it CAN happen, to ANYONE, please, please, be safe.

I love the way you lie. – Eminem ft. Rihanna

Frankie was falling, over and over, every time a gunshot reverberating through his head. The blackness was everywhere, it was overwhelming, and he couldn't escape. He kept hearing this annoying beep, but no matter where he looked, he couldn't find where it was coming from. It was like there was no gravity, no floor, no ground; he couldn't seem to find a way to right himself. It was like he was trapped in a huge hole, but he couldn't see the light at the end.

"Frankie?" The familiar voice of his dad broke through the constant beep. "Can you hear me?" Frankie tried to nod, but the darkness seemed to keep him from answering. Maybe his dad was trapped in here too. "You're going to be okay. Can you wake up for your old man?" Frankie Sr.'s voice cracked on the last word and let out a small choked sob. Frankie was confused; he was not used to hearing his dad get so emotional. His dad was probably the most stoic one of them in the family.

Frankie couldn't figure out what his dad meant by waking up. He was awake and he was lost in the field of blackness. Suddenly, as though he had been plucked from the nightmare world, he was blinking into the harsh fluorescent lights. He was lying flat on his back in a foreign bed. The ceiling of the room was not his room and he wondered for a minute if he had possibly died.

"Daddy?" Frankie didn't care that he sounding like the child he hadn't been for so long. He started to thrash frantically to escape the sheets that were binding him to the bed. He couldn't get a breath and he wondered where his dad was. Where was he? Alarms started to go off and everything was too bright.

"I'm here, Frankie. Right here, calm down, you're in the hospital." Frankie Sr. had been slow to react because when his son actually started to wake up, it had startled him. He clutched his son close to him and his son grabbed onto the familiar scent of the jacket and let it start to calm him down. A nurse rushed into the room and hit a button on the machine so the alarm stopped going off.

"Hi Mr. Rizzoli, welcome back!" The nurse smiled in a very reassuring way at Frankie. "My name is Sara. How do you feel?" Frankie was still panting like he had just ran a marathon, but he nodded. He wasn't positive where his voice was yet. His erratic heart rate was slowly starting to even back out. She hit another button and a cuff on his arm started to get tighter. He recognized that it was a blood pressure cuff and tried to not panic again.

Frankie Sr. had half climbed onto the small hospital bed with his son and was rocking him slowly, almost like he had done when Frankie was only a baby. He needed the closeness that the contact brought almost as much as Frankie did. The nurse smiled at the contact between the father and son. She knew the father had rarely left his son's side, only when the parents made the switch from their two children's rooms. She had two children of her own and couldn't imagine what this must feel like for them.

"Jane?" Frankie said her name like a question. He needed to know; he had to about the person he had modeled himself after his whole life. Maybe it had just been a really bad dream or maybe he had hallucinated when he got really sick like he did when he was a kid.

"She's, uh, she's here too." Frankie Sr. wanted to break the news very gently to his youngest son. He knew Frankie would take it hard and would blame himself when it wasn't his fault to begin with. "Why don't you just relax right now?" He ran his fingers through his son's crazy hair. He hadn't had the guts to shave him so stubble was beginning to form.

"Is, is, she okay?" Frankie couldn't just relax. Not until he knew if his one and only sister was dead. "Just tell me." There was only one reason why his dad wouldn't tell him and that would be because she was dead. Please, oh God, please don't let her be dead.

"Just relax." He really wanted to let his son get a chance to wake up and take in his surroundings before his told him the news. He was glad Frankie wasn't looking up; he didn't want Frankie to see the pain that was written all over his face. He hadn't almost lost just one of his children, but two. He still might loose one, one of his precious babies that he secretly just wanted to come back home.

"Tell me, please." Frankie looked towards his father with big, pleading eyes. He pleaded silently for his father to just tell him the truth. He couldn't stand this waiting. It was the suspense of not knowing the end of a movie, or the first seconds after kicking the door down.

"Don't do this to me." Tears were forming in his fathers eyes. How could he be the one to tell his son? How could he crush his own son's heart like that?

"Is Janie dead?" Frankie overcame a wave of dizziness and pushed himself away from his father and straight up. He squeezed his eyes shut momentarily, but he didn't give into the feeling of nausea.

"Your sister, she's, she's, in a coma. She lost so much blood. You've been unconscious for three days." Frankie felt his blood run cold. He looked to see his father's face pinched in the pain. His father was relieving the past days, remembering the pain and suffering from having his youngest two children suffering so much.

"Will, will she wake up?" He managed to get to his feet. He turned to face his father, wincing as he tugged the IV that he had just realized was there. Luckily the IV was taped securely to the inside of his elbow, or he would have ripped it out. He had seen criminals do it to extend their hospital visits, but he would rather have the nurse, Sara, come back and do it for him.

"The doctor said that everyday that she doesn't, the chances decrease of her waking up." Frankie Sr. turned away from his son, unable to see how his son's face fell. He hated being the person that told his youngest son that he might not have a sister anymore. He wished the could just walk away, wake up, something, anything to get away from this terrible nightmare that had become their life.

"You're lying." Frankie spit out. Tears were spilling from his eyes. _This was all his fault._ If he had just seen Lola more clearly, seen her dark side, they wouldn't be in the hospital.

_All he could see was the crimson stain that was spreading across her stomach so fast it was like a cascading waterfall. Her eyes were squeezed shut in the tremendous pain and Frankie couldn't even tell if she was bleeding. He put his hands on the wound, but blood bubbled around them anyway._

"Son." Frankie Sr. wasn't really sure how to comfort his son. He laid a clumsy hand on his shoulder, hoping the simple gesture would bring maybe a little solace.

"I want to see her." It was the one and only way that Frankie would ever be able to believe what his father was saying. He knew his father wasn't a liar, but maybe he had just seen the wrong girl.

"You'll have to go in a wheelchair." Frankie Sr. saw his son's face screw up in distaste. He wasn't an invalid. "You have a concussion, remember?" He gently prodded his son. No one was really sure what Frankie remembered, or if he ever would fully remember everything. On second thought, Frankie Sr. wondered if not remembering was actually a good thing.

"Fine." Frankie took a deep breath; the room still had yet to completely stop moving. As much as he hated to admit it, if he tried to walk to Janie, he probably wouldn't make it that far. He leaned against the bed, which helped stabilize the room a little bit.

"I'll get the nurse." Frankie Sr. left. He knew it was fruitless to try to argue with his son. His son had grown up just as stubborn as him.

Ten minutes later, the two Rizzoli boys were making their way towards the ICU Bay. The annoying IV was still in his arm, but he wasn't hooked up to anything else, and for that, he was very grateful. Right now, though, all he could think about was finally getting to see Janie.

"Son, she's not going to look quite like the Jane we're used to. She's very pale. She is on a breathing tube and there are IVs and much more attached to her." Frankie Sr. took a deep breath himself. He never would be used to seeing his only little baby girl that way. "Just, just, be prepared." They arrived outside of the glass sliding doors that were standard in the ICU and were easier for doctors to get through in case of an emergency.

Frankie Sr. slowly pushed Frankie around the pulled curtain, dreading his son's reaction, and seeing his beautiful baby girl like that again. Frankie's heart dropped so low, he swore it ripped out the bottom of his feet. Tears sprang in his eyes as he caught his first glimpse of his sister since the shooting.

"Oh, my God."

A/N 2: Sorry to be slightly evil and stop there. Next chapter will be longer and updates for: Save Me and Forgotten are on the way! Thanks. Oh and sorry I really wasn't sure how to portray Frankie Sr… so I hope it wasn't too crazy.

A/N 3: Oh and just for a heads up, I have been really really sick, so this is probably not my best. Also, the doctor thinks I got mono from just sharing a drink with friends :( so


	3. Family Ties

A/N: Huge shout out to detectiveben for reminding me about this story and making me feel inspired to write another chapter! Another shout out to Toeta95 for being the only other review! I know I haven't updated in forever, but hopefully this makes up for it. I'll probably wrap this up in another two chapters or so. Thanks for reading!

* * *

Jane was hooked up to more tubes and wires than Frankie could count. There was a tube that came from her mouth and IVs in her hand. She had never looked so pale, her dark hair sticking out against the bleached white hospital pillow. A thin sheet covered her, but Frankie could see several more tubes that emerged out from underneath it. Seeing his sister so still wasn't what Frankie was used to.

"That not Jane." Frankie said in a flat tone, not letting his emotions enter his answer. He wished he wasn't stuck in this wheelchair, so he could run from the room and find his real sister, wherever she was hiding. Jane was always the one who had taken care of him. Even when he was sick and mom told her to stay away, she would sneak in and tell him everything was going to be okay.

"Talk to her, she can hear you." Angela Rizzoli said softly. She quickly came around the bed and gave Frankie a hug. She was ecstatic to see at least one of her children on the mend. She hated that her two youngest had become cops. She was extremely proud of both of her children, but she wished they had picked a safer career path, like becoming an accountant or a nurse.

"Okay." Frankie didn't know if he could force out more than the one word. He kept blinking, hoping Jane would sit up, mad that everyone was making such a fuss over her. She had always tried to avoid any spotlights at any cost. His mother and father locked eyes behind him and quietly slipped out, allowing Frankie to talk to his sister. "Hey Janie, sorry it took me a while to get here. I was so scared. I haven't been that scared ever before. I love you so much and you're the best sister anyone could ever ask for. Please wake up, I need you." Frankie choked up. He didn't know what else he was supposed to save. He just wanted his sister. He wanted her to be the one at his bedside, telling him it was all okay, but all he could do is wait.

* * *

_3 Days Later_

"Still no change?" Frankie Sr. had gone home for a few hours to get a shower and a change of clothes, also running by Frankie's apartment to grab Frankie a change of clothes. Frankie had refused to leave the hospital after he was discharged. Frankie Sr. hadn't seen Frankie so close to throwing a temper tantrum since he was a little child.

"Nothing." Angela's face fell whenever she thought about the fact that her child might never wake up. It was every parent's worst nightmare, burying your own child. She knew her chances increased when her children had become members of the NYPD, but she just tried to focus on the good that her children did. She had hoped this day would never come, the day her child would be on the other side of a gun.

"What is she waiting on?" Frankie said from where he sat, his head propped up by his right arm on the edge of the bed. His left hand clutched Jane's tightly. He needed to be around his sister. He felt a little less panic around her. Even lying unconscious in a hospital bed, Jane was still his biggest support system.

"I wish I knew." Angela was stroking Jane's hair. She remembered the day that the doctors had placed the tiny girl in her arm. Jane had been the smallest out of her three children. She might have been the first born, but she had always been the little girl.

"She's gonna be fine." Frankie mumbled as he let his head fall on the bed, never letting go of Jane's hand. He wanted to crawl in bed with her, just like he had when he was a young child and had had a nightmare. He and Tommy had never gotten along, and when it had gotten beyond bearable, Jane had volunteered to share her room with him. She was the reason he had become a cop. He remembered her graduation from the police academy and walking up to her and telling her he was going to be a cop as well.

"She's a fighter." Frankie Sr. agreed as he walked to stand behind his wife, kissing her forehead and her hand. The three members of the Rizzoli family waited quietly, waiting for the fourth to wake up and join them again so that they could be whole again.

* * *

_4 days later_

Something heavy was lying on her arm. The scent of disinfectant filled her nose and she could hear an annoying high-pitched beeping noise in the background. Her eyesight was still a little foggy. Why wasn't she lying in her bed nursing a hangover? She had figured after surviving dinner with her baby brother's new girlfriend, she would have ended up getting drunk. It was like someone was pouring all of the memories she needed back into her head through a funnel. Her brain finally started thinking about Lola, the crazy bitch who had almost managed to kill both of them.

"Jane? Jane!" Frankie's voice was loud in her ear. Why couldn't she answer him? Something was blocking her throat. She brought her hand up, trying to knock it away, but Frankie caught her hand. "Jane, you're in the hospital."

"Detective Rizzoli?" Another voice joined the mixture, unfamiliar to Jane. She tried to relax, the thing in her throat making it impossible for her to do much. She managed to crack her eyes and everything came into view slowly, like looking through the bottom of a jar. Frankie was to her right, a man to the left. He was smiling at her. "I'm Doctor Harmon. You were shot a week and a half ago. We are going to remove the tube in your throat. It's going to be a little uncomfortable." Jane gave a little nod, before looking with concern in her eyes at Frankie.

"She's dead. I'm fine. You're going to be fine." Frankie said, relief was still coursing through his veins, making him feel weak. "Mom and dad just stepped out to get a bite to eat." He had been so scared that his sister might never wake up. Every second had been torture to him.

"We're ready to pull the tube. Now when I count to three I need you to cough a few times. The tube won't feel great coming out, but it shouldn't be too painful. After we pull the tube out, we'll have an oxygen mask ready for you to take a few breaths from." The doctor explained, maintaining eye contact with her. "On the count of three, one, two, three." Jane gagged and coughed deeply as the tube was carefully slid from her throat and dropped into a red biohazard bag. She gagged again, almost throwing up in the bin that had already been placed in front of her. "Don't try to talk!" The doctor exclaimed when Jane tried to say something, causing her to start coughing again.

"Just relax Janie." Frankie said, rubbing her chilled hand between both of his hands. She nodded before motioning towards the pitcher of water that was on the bedside table. She felt like she hadn't had anything to drink in years.

"We have a few ice chips to start with." The doctor carefully spooned a small chip into Jane's mouth. She gratefully sucked on it. While it wasn't a cold beer, it was still something wet. "Now, you're probably really sore. That's natural. We had to perform surgery to remove the bullet that was lodged in your abdominal cavity. Luckily, it missed all of your vital organs. You should make a rather quick and full recovery." Dr. Harmon smiled at his patient, who was slowly soaking in all the information.

"How long do I have to stay here?" Jane winced, her voice sounded really hoarse. While she wouldn't admit it out loud, she was extremely grateful for the morphine she knew was coursing through her body. She could feel the pain that was searing like a white hot poker was being pressed against her stomach with the morphine drip and dreaded when they started to wean her off of it.

"We want to keep you under observation for a few more days. Then, we'll discharge you, but you'll be on strict bed rest for another week. I will explain more before you are discharged." Dr. Harmon made a few notes on the chart. "Any questions?" He asked with a small smile on his face.

"Nope." Jane managed a small smile before turning to look at her brother. "How are you?" Frankie opened his mouth to utter an 'I'm fine', but Jane cut him off, "And none of that 'I'm fine' crap." Her voice was reduced to a croak at the end of the sentence.

"You got shot because of my stupidity. I didn't see Lola for who she truly was. I, I thought you were going to die. It would have been my fault." Frankie crossed his arms on the bed, letting go of Jane's hand. He let his head fall onto his arms, his voice becoming muffled. He hadn't felt less like a cop since his first day after graduation from the academy. He felt like the biggest failure in the world.

"It's not your fault." Jane shut her eyes. She hated seeing how her baby brother was tearing himself up over something that wasn't his fault. "Frankie, you had no way of knowing who Lola was underneath it all." Frankie nodded his head, not looking up. Jane sighed, before looking down at her brother. She ran her fingers through his hair, with a tiny smile. "If it was anyone's fault, it was mine. It was my case. We should have seen something like that."

"No, I was the one who didn't even blink-" Frankie didn't even know why Jane was trying. He knew that it was a stupid move to let a girl win his heart so fast. He was a cop, he should have thought about it.

"Shut up." Jane cut him off. He wasn't even making sense. He wasn't at fault for anything that had happened here. "Just shut up and get some sleep." Frankie looked down at his watch. He tried to count back, but he didn't remember the last time he slept. "You have bags under your eyes the size of baseballs."

"I got some sleep." Frankie said unconvincingly. Every time he had shut his eyes he had seen Jane lying there, drowning in a pool of her own blood. He had stopped trying days ago and settled for a few minutes of sleep here and there, perched precariously on the stiff hospital chair.

"Get some sleep." Jane pointed to the cot in the corner. The two adult Rizzoli's had been taking turns sleeping on the creaky cot. Frankie sighed. He knew Jane wouldn't let up until he had gotten some sleep.

"Okay." Frankie sighed as he walked over towards the cot. He curled under the blanket, still able to see Jane when he opened his eyes. He let out a yawn, the stress of the last week getting to him. He blinked one before his face went slack and Jane couldn't resist a small smile before she caved into the call of the pain meds.

* * *

A/N: Don't shoot me, it was cheesy. I guess I could squeeze out one more chapter? Thanks for hanging in… Would love some reviews...even though this isn't my best still!


	4. Home

I completely forgot about this story, but I really want to finish it, so here is another chapter!

* * *

"Is this necessary?" Jane looked over at the wheelchair with disgust. She wanted to run out of this damn hospital, never looking back. She hated them with a passion and had been itching to leave for days now. The doctors had kept her for observation, but Jane felt like she was being kept in prison. People came in and out of her room all the time and she was always being poked and prodded. She really just wanted to get back to work and in her routine. She didn't like having people fuss over her. Frankie chuckled, typical Jane.

"Yes, Ms. Rizzoli. It is hospital policy." Hannah said with a smile. She had gotten used to Jane's attitude over the time taking care of her. Before the detective had woken up, her family had spent hours telling her stories about the work that the detective had done. Hannah had a lot of respect for the woman in front of her and knew that she kept the city safer.

"Fuck this." Jane mumbled under her breath as she inched carefully out of the bed. She still had a couple dozen stitches and she didn't want to pop any of them. A small moan escaped her lips. Her whole body lit up with pain as she put her full weight on her legs. She had gotten out of bed for therapy and to start using the bathroom after the catheter came out, but it still sent pain searing up her whole body. The doctors had warned that she would be tender for a few more weeks. Her body had taken a beating.

"Be careful!" Frankie was almost dancing on his tiptoes with anticipation. Jane gave him an eye roll before settling herself in the wheelchair. She couldn't wait to get home.

* * *

"Y'all cleaned it up good." Jane's voice hitched as she entered her apartment. She hadn't even thought about it until now that it wouldn't be the same. She had forgotten about the mess that had been left behind.

"We tried." Mr. Rizzoli's voice was quiet. He still hadn't forgotten a few days ago when he had entered the apartment for the first time after the shooting. Frankie Sr. and Angela had broken down and cried as they took in the grim scene in front of them. Blood was splattered against the bed and a large pool on the bedroom floor. There were holes and blood dripped down the walls in and out of the bedroom. Angela had sobbed for her children and the horrors that they had faced that night.

"Someone will be coming to put the new carpet in, but we couldn't get them here any sooner, I'm sorry. We put down a couple of rugs but it's just temporary." Frankie Jr. rambled on. Frankie Sr. had patched the holes in the walls but wasn't sure what color the paint was, so the white patches stood out against the dark red Jane had painted her hall. "I didn't know the paint color, I'm sorry. We can paint it any color you would like. Maybe a change would be nice?" He offered a half smile.

"It's okay." Jane reached out and gave Frankie Jr. a one-armed hug. He let his head rest on her shoulder for a minute. Jane ventured a few more steps into the apartment. The couches weren't in the same place and she could see some scuffs on the walls from the forensics team. She shuddered, thinking of the people who had been trampling through her apartment. It even smelled different to her.

"I'm starving, how about pizza?" Angela suggested, wringing her hands together. She thought her anxiety would be gone when her babies were out of the hospital, but she still didn't feel right yet. "I can go pick one up." She already had her keys in her hands.

"Sure ma." Jane wasn't really hungry but she knew her mom needed to feel busy. "Extra cheese." Angela let out a half-sob, half-laugh as she headed for the door. The overwhelming feelings that she felt made her desire to leave the room that much greater. Jane headed further into the apartment to assess the damages and repairs. She stopped in the doorway to her bedroom. There were mismatched rugs strategically placed on the bare floor.

"We weren't sure what comforter you would want, so we just got you some plain sheets and blankets." Frankie Sr. gestured towards the bed. Her beautiful comforter had been destroyed and was replaced with some off-white sheets and two brown blankets. Jane nodded numbly, trying to take it all in. Her bedroom was ruined, not just the carpet and bed, but ruined.

"That's fine. Maybe in a few days we can go to the store?" Jane looked at her father and brother. Every time she looked towards her bedroom, she remembered that night. She remembered the gurgling the blood made, the white hot pain that coursed through her body. She could still feel the blood, still hot, dripping from the corners of her mouth. The sound of the gunshot reverberated in her ears. She shuddered before bringing herself back to the conversation at hand.

"You okay Janie?" Frankie Jr. reached out to his big sister. He could tell from the look in her eyes that she was in a place far away. He could tell that she was back at that night. He had relived it himself a hundred times and it still didn't make it any easier for him.

"Yea, I'm fine." Jane repeated the words she felt she had said a million times. She _wasn't_ fine, but she was determined to be fine. "I'm fine." She repeated again, making sure to emphasize the word fine. Frankie opened his mouth like he was going to pursue the topic but shut it without saying anything. Jane took a few more steps into her bedroom. It didn't feel like home anymore. "My lease is almost up here. I want to move."

"I don't blame you." Frankie Jr. was quick to respond. He could completely understand Jane wanting to leave this place. He didn't even want to be here now. It brought back the biggest failure of his life. "You can come stay with me until you find a good place." He had moved out of home a few years back and had been renting a small apartment near the precinct. He had a guest bedroom that his friends crashed in from time to time, but it was empty most of the time and company might be nice.

"Your mom would love to have you home too." Frankie Sr. chipped in. The house felt so empty sometimes with all three kids out in the world. They had kept their bedrooms ready for when their kids came home. Jane nodded, thinking about how fast she could get everything packed and out. She shuffled towards the couch, the exhaustion suddenly taking over her. Both men stuck by her side, ready to catch her if she stumbled. "Do you want to stay here tonight or come with one of us?" Frankie Sr. hoped that Jane moved soon. He hated this place now. He saw the blood pooled on the floor in the bedroom. He could see it splattered on the bed and wall. He knew where that woman had taken her final breath and where Jane and Frankie had almost died.

"I think I want to stay here." Jane said as she tenderly sat down on the couch. "I think I need to." She added as she looked at the two concerned faces in front of her. Frankie Sr.'s brow creased in with worry. This was his only baby girl and he hated seeing her in so much pain. He wished he could just scoop her up into his arms like when she was a child and hug the pain away.

"Do you want me to stay?" Frankie Jr. offered. Regardless if she said yes or no, he wouldn't be going far. He would sleep in his car outside if needed. His sister wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for him. "I am still on leave, so I don't mind. I can sleep on the floor." He was eager to help his sister in any way that he could.

"Sure." Jane really wanted to be alone, but she could tell that Frankie needed to be with her. She hoped they would get a chance to talk. The hospital, with all of its alarms and noises, hadn't provided a good place to talk and their parents were constantly coming in. Frankie Jr. flashed her a thankful grin. They hadn't always been the closest growing up, but in the last few years, they had matured and they were now closer than they had ever been.

Wasn't the best way to end, but I have so many ideas that planned, but none that wouldn't be an additional thousand words or so!


End file.
